What It’s Like to Intern at the Aquarium: Part 1

Ever wonder what it’s like to intern at the National Aquarium? Take a moment to imagine it…Let me guess, you’re thinking that it would involve directly working with the fish and animals in the exhibits. Well, it does for some, but there is so much more that goes into running an aquarium. That’s why college students in various areas of studies have the opportunity to gain valuable experience with the organization. In fact, a graphic design student can obtain just as much experience as a biology student, working as an aquarist.

As an intern myself, working in the Digital Marketing Department and majoring in communication arts, I know firsthand how important the jobs behind the scenes are for the organization. Since working with the aquarium, I have assisted with the launch of their new website (which included writing some of the descriptions for the Events & Activities page), edited entries for the blog, and wrote for the blog as well.

But I’m not the only intern who has found working at the aquarium to be an enriching experience. The interns below have had similar experiences. Take a look!

Tyler Littleton

Aquarist

Tyler is a senior at Stevenson University majoring in biology. He came to the aquarium knowing that it would fit well with what he wanted to do in the future.

While at the aquarium, Tyler learned about all that went into taking care of the fish in his section. This included food prep, feedings, water changes, aiding with moving the fish, and other tasks. Tyler was responsible for the fish in the Lurking, Occupying, Migrating and Sensing exhibits in the aquarium as well as the Lobby reef. He said that he quickly got to the point where he could care for these fish without a supervisor.

Tyler Littleton feeding fish behind the scenes

Besides making sure the fish were well kept, he conducted research on the chambered nautilus for his senior research project. The project had to do with the husbandry of the animal, which he found didn’t exist in the scientific community. After graduating, Tyler wants to work for an aquarium or do some type of open water excursion, performing population studies and fish collection.

Annelise Murphy

Events & Promotions

Annelise is a junior at Towson University majoring in mass communications, double tracking in public relations and advertisement, and minoring in English. She was attracted to the idea of working for a company with such an extensive conservation and eco-friendly incentive.

Annelise Murphy

When she is not researching for an event, she can be found writing and making edits to blogs, helping with the aquarium’s social media platforms, environmental scanning, and seeing where the aquarium’s been showing up in the news. Annelise is interested in both event planning and advertisement, but is open to testing the waters with other areas within the communications field. She plans on doing another internship in the near future in order to get more insight on her intended career endeavors.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our What It’s Like to Intern at the Aquarium series!